Safe



Nov. 4 1924.. 1,513,849

M. H. MOORE SAFE Filed July 25. 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 U 7IIIIIII (I l/ ,7, 1 N IMHHHH w /Z7 7 Lk 21 13 I H w V1 W If Ill] Z a 6 45 ATTORNEYZ.

Nov. 4 1924. 1,513,849

- M. H. MOORE SAFE Filed July 25. 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 i m l Llngmi 2 4414 TTORNEYX.

1,513,849 4 1924 M. H. MOORE SAFE Filed July 25. 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 llllllllll 26 IIlflllllllllllllllllllll I I s Ill v R. hw

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Nov. 4 1924- M. H. MOORE SAFE Filed July 25. 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 NW, 4, 92 20 mmms M. H. MOORE SAFE Filed July 25. 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 mum/Huh? a %VENTOR.

2 L041 M ATTORNEY M. H. MOORE SAFE Filed July 25, 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 1 d Mn H HMH HH ""mm NIH/H HI I HlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 'mHmHuHHHIHI vhf/ATTORNEY.

Patent Nov, 4, T192421,

oats

1811.,M00RE, GHICAGB, ILLHEQIS.

SAFE. I

Application mea'aul 25, was. Serial no. ceases.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that T, Mon'rmne Moons, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safes, of which the following 15 a specification.

. This invention relates to an improvement in safe construction and-has particular reference to means for mounting, conveying and housing the door of, a sa'fe so that the same may be openedand closed in the usual manner and so that, when opened, it may be moved into a position at right angles with the plane of the face of the safe and housed adjacent to the side wall thereof. It also relates to a system for forming a bank of safes .which consists in removing the doors froma position of hinged sealing relation with reference to the door frame of the safe and conveyingv the same into a posit on where the door is housed adjacent to the side walls of the safe, and then bringing a plurality ofsafes, with the doors similarly mounted and disposed, into intimate relation and in alignment, thusaccomplishing a material saving in floor space and a peculiar advantage due to the convenience afforded in the utilization of the safe for the purposes for which it isintended;

It has been found that where safes "are employed in vaults or ofli'ces where there is a limited. floor space available, and partlcular- 1y where a bank of said safes is formed by" placin'g'a' series of safes side by side, a material part' of the floor space is'necessarily occupied by the swinging-of the doors to an open position. If, for instance, in the use of one safe having two doors, the doors are opened so that the face of the doors and the face ofthe safe are in a common plane,

the doors usually extendheyond the width of the safe and to that extent occupy consideralolyv more space than is occupied b thesafe alone.-,,Where, on the other han a plurality of safes are placed in one line itls necessary to provide suflicient space between the safes soas to allow for the doors to fully open, thus makingv it necessary to have a wide space between the safes. If under another form of arrangement the safes are banked wall to wall then the doors when opened will stand in' a position perpendi-- cular .tothe face of the safe, thus occupying considerable floor space. All such arrangements have serious objectionable features. It is the purpose of this invention to overcome such difficulties and to provide means by which the door or doors of safes may be so mounted that theycan be brought into hinged relation with the door frame or swung outof such relation into a position where the door can be conveyed in a plane parallel to the side of the safe and perpendicular to the face thereof, and housed adj acent theside of the safe sothat the outer edge of the door, when so housed, will be within the plane of the face of the safethus entirely eliminating the objectionable features above referred tofor the reason that the dooris housed adjacent the side walls of the safe in a space which is substantially the same as the width or thickness of the door. Thus a bank of safes may be assembled in line and under the construction indicated theyvwill be separated only by the width of the safe doors when housed as I 7 stated, so that it will be understood that under the conditions described, when the safe is opened thedoors' are arranged to be swung out of sealing relation with the door position to register with the frame of the v safe door.

' The construction illustrated and described iscapable of use with all forms of safe doors where the relation between the door'and its frame is stepped in such way as to permit the free removal of the door from its frame. The construction also contemplates the use of a door frame and a door having interlock-- ing tongue and groove and flange relations which can bebrought into registrationonly when the door is swung 1n a predetermined :arc of a circle;

"In. this case means is provided in the first V instance for the opening of the door with in the limitations of said are of a circle,

and when' thus moved and the-interlocking tongue and'groove flanges are released, then thedoor is swung on a second pivot into a position where it can be moved as stated in a plane perpendicular to the face of the safe, and parallel with the walls thereof This invention is illustrated in the acooma panying drawings in which the parts are designated by numerals, like numerals referrmg to like parts.

Figure 1 is a perspective view partly in section, showing one of the doors of the safe closed and the other partly open.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing 'the door removed from its sealing relation.

withthe door frame and moved into a position perpendicular to the face of the safe and parallel to theside wall thereof.

Figure 3 is a perspective view showin the safe door housed adjacent one side the safe and within a plane represented by the face of the safe. 9 Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken through the door and side wall of the safe and through the housing mechanism hereafter to be described. 7

Figure 5 is a spring lock in perspective.

, Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view showing Figure 9'is a perspective view of a sec-. 0nd form of door supporting and conveying means, having partlcula'r reference to a stabilizer construction.

Figure 10 is a perspective detail view showlng anti-friction mechanism, together with cooperative stabilizing mechanism.

-a safe door as hereinafter more fully'speci- Figure 11 is an elevation illustrating antifriction and stabilizing mechanism employed in said door supporting and con-' veying means. A

'1 is the rectangular body of a conventional safe having two doors designated as 2 and 3. To provide for the construction embodying. this invention I prefer to ex tend'the topand base and back wall of the safe as indicated as 4, 5 and 6, this extension furnishing'a space forthe housing of fied. i-

For the purpose of carrying out my invention, I have constructed swhat- I characv terize as a door supporting and conveying means. Various devices may be constructed for the accomplishment of the purposecontemplated by this means. I have illusments wherein a mullion as -7 is provided at trated, as in igure 7 one of such embodi either end with a bracket as 8,i n which are suitably mounted roller bearings as 9 and 10. vertical thrust ofthe mullion while the idle rollers 10 engage the walls of guiding ways 11 and 12. I characterize the whole con- 'struction as anti-friction means adapted to The roller 9 is adapted to carry the facilitate the movement of the mullion 7 .in suitable ways. 11 and 12 are sheets of metal vertically mounted on the base 5 and on the top extension 4 to fornnways Within whichthe mullion 7 and its friction bearing attachmentsmay move in a plane perpendicular to the face of the safe and parallel to the side wall thereof. 13 is a vertical bar suitably secured between the extensions 4 and 5. 14 and 14 are bars pivotally. connected with. the'mullion 7 at a point notvisible in the drawings while 14 and 14 are bars pivotally connected with the upright 13 at 15. 16 is a bar to which are pivotally connected at the end thereof the bars .14 and 14 such pivotal point being designated as 15. 17 are bearing rollers suitably mounted between the vertical plates L2 and 12 is to bear the weight of the safe door and facilitate its free movement in a plane par.- allel with the side of the safe. 17 and 17 'are friction rollers mounted on the side wall of the safe to guide the doorin its movement and to: prevent injury thereto in the course of such movement. 18 and 18 The function of these rollers are idle rollers adapted to engage the link 1 25 hereinafter referred to inorder to preventfthe movement of said link towards the housing until it has been brought into parallel relation with the side wall of the safe A 19 is a spring lock shown in detail in Figure 5, wherein 20 is a pivoted lever having a hook at one end as 21, with a limiting detent as 23. '24 is apost between which and the rear end of the lever is attached a helical spring 22 operating normally to hold the lever against the detent 23.

Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 4, 25 is a link interposed between the mullion 7 and the dopr 2 and connected with each respectively by hinged connection-rte the door by a hinged connection as 26 and to the mullion 7 by a hinged connection as 27.

It'will be noted that in Figure 4 I have provided in the frame of the safe tongue and groove formations as 34, and in the door corresponding tongue and groove formathe relation between the door and its frame. It will be noted further that these tongue and groove formations indicated as 34 and 35102111 be interlocked only when the door is moved in that predetermined arc' of a circle in this instance the'center of which is the hinge 26.

In Figures 9, 10 and 11 is illustrated another'form of construction of a safe sup-- porting and conveying mechanism, differing however from that previously described and illustrated in Figure 7 in that/instead of 'using the stabilizer bar's'14 and 14 and 16, pivoted as illustrated to maintain the mullion 7 in a vertical position, anotherstr icli e ture is devised to accomplish the same object, but in a different way. In this device a rack 28 is provided which is adapted to cooperatewith cogwheels, 30 and carried by the rod 29; and in this case the mullion 7 is provided with brackets 32, 32, carrying also the anti-friction bearing wheels 33.

Referring to Figure 6 there will be found it) plan view of the manner in which the safes constructed according to this invention can be formed into a bank for the purpose of economizing floor space as opposed .tothe present method or system of assembling such bank ofr safes.

1 sembled and associated, while 39, 39 shows the housing of the safe doors, in the s ace lying between the safes. In the secon of these dia ams 37 illustratesthe safe and 40 the 'sa e doors. In dotted lines is shown the arc in which the doors must necessarily move and the intermediate-space between 25 the safes is also illustrated. In the third of these, 38 indicates the safe while 41 and 41- to demonstrate the saving of floor space above referred to.

Referring to Figures 1 and 4, it will be noted that the door 2 is hinged to the link 25 by the hinges 26, and the link 25' is hinged tothe mullion 7 by the hinges 27. The movement of the door on said hinges is illustrated in Fi ure 4, where it will: be 7 noted that the door 1s mounted to swing in a 45 predetermined are on the hinge 26, which movement permits the tongue and groove construction 34 in the frafine and35 in the' door to interlock'as the door is closed, and to move out'of such locking engagement when the door is. rotated on such hinge 26.

The link 25 is held in engagement wiurthe face of the safe by the hook 21. operating through 'a hole in said link. This hook may .be released by a'manual movement thereof so as to permit the link 25 to be turned on the hinge 27. In Figure 4 in dotted lines is indicated two positions which the door 2' and the link-25 ,will assume when they are released from thedetnt hook-21 and moved until said. link has been brought into the misses v a diagrammatic expression -illustrating a,

.will cause the supporting 1 In the first of these dia' grams, 36 represents the entire bank as as-' are occupied. These figures are sufli cient' as indicated in Figure 4. The rollers 18 plane of the movementot the saidmonveyor,

as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 4 and designated as m. At this point the rear end of the link engages the side wall of the m-ullion 7 and prevents its further movement in its are of rotation. When in the latter position the link-and door are both in a common plane parallel with the side walls of the safe and perpendicular to the face. of the safe. In this position pressure exerted upon the outer edge of the safe door and conveying means embodying the mul on 7 to rnove on its Ways in a plane parallel to the side wall of the safe and in the course of such movement .the safe door will be engaged'by the rollers 17 which are adapted partially to supportthe weight thereof, and in ,the event that the door should be at all tilted the. rollers 17 and '17" are provided as antifriction rollers to support the door and protect its surface from injury as it is nioved into its housing.

It is of course important that the mullion 1 7 should be maintained in a vertical position during the operation of moving the same in its ways. This may beaccomplished in ivarious manners; two forms have been" illustrated, one in Figure 7 and the other in Figure 9. In Figure 7 what are characterized as stabilizer arms are interposed between the mullion 7 and the vertical up right 13. These arms are hinged to the mullion and upright and alsoto a vertical arm and theyare so constructed, as shown in .Figure 1, that pressure 'eierted upon the mullion will cause the joints to be broken one d1rection,'and this breaking will be unlform, as shown in Figure 7, until the arms are entirely collapsed as shown in Figure 3. In Figure 8 is illustrated the antifriction devices which are provided for each end of the mullion 7 in "drder to facilitate the movement of the said mullion in the ways in which it is mounted to 'move.

by the means above described into its houss It will be noted that when housed as stated, the door is confined within a space substantially puivalent to its width at one 7 side ofthe sa e, leaving free access .to the safe through the door opening. When it is desired again to bring thedoor into sealing relation with the door frame of the safe,

In no a Figure 3 is illustrated the door as conveyed conveying means, it will be noted that all of the elements which enter into that con'-' struction are substantially similar to those shown in Figure 7 with the exception that instead of the stabilizer arms a rack 28 is provided, adapted to engage with the pinions 30 and 31 mounted on the shaft 29. It will be understood that in this construction any pressure exerted upon the mullion 7 to'move the same backwards and forwards in its ways must necessarily operate to affect the gears 30 and 31 running in the rack 28 so as'to maintain the said mullion 7 in a vertical position.

It will be understood of course that the door housing device here described may be employed with a safe having either one door or two, and it will be manifest from the statement made with reference to Fig ure {5 that considerable economy in floorspace is accomplished by the use of this device as opposed to the other constructions illustrated in that figure. Another feature of the construction is that it presents a more desirable, unique and satisfactory appearance to absolutely dispose of the doors during the period when the safesare open, leaving free access to the safes without the impediment incident to the position of the doors in those forms-of bank assemblage other than that of this invention shown in the diagram Figure 6. I I

As heretofore stated, I have provided a spring lock such as that illustrated in Figure- 5, which cooperates with alink 25 through the medium of a-hole in said link lel relation with the face of the safe it is supporting and conveyin retained in such relation by reason of said lock, and under such conditions the door of the safemay be opened and closed in the normal manner. This is an important feature for it is sometimes desirable to have access to the safe without operating the entire mechanism as above described to house the door at the side of the safe. By a manual movement of the latch 21 on the other hand the latch may be released so that the door and link may be brought into the plane of movement of the carrier. like manner when the door is withdrawn from its housing and swung on its pivot the latch 21 engages the link and holds the same in such relation that the hinge by which the door-'isattached to the link is the center of the arc of rotation ofthe door so as to accomplish theinterlocking of the flanges on the door and the frame-as here? tofore described.

What I claim is: I 1.'In combination with a safe, a door -means comprising ways-1n a plane parallel to the side of the safeand perpendicular to the face thereof a column provided at either end with antiefriction carriers adapted to move in said ways, a vertical support at one end of said ways and stablizer bars interposed between said vertical support and said column so as to maintain the column in parallel relation with said vertical support, at the same time permitting its movement toward or'away from the said vertical support, means for pivotally connecting said column with said door so that said door may swing into a plane parallel with said ways and be conveyed in'said plane to a position parallel to the side of the safeor be withdrawn outwardly to a position where it will swing into closed relation with said safe.

2. In combination with a safe, means for supporting and conveying a door for said safe, comprising ways parallel with a side wall of the safe and with each other, and,

adapted to receive and carry a' mullion, a mullion provided at each end with. antifriction mechanism to facilitate the move 1 ment ofsaid mullion within said ways, said mullion mounted between said Ways, means to maintain said mullion in a vertical position as it moves in said ways such means comprising stabilizer bars pivoted to the mullion and to suitable supports and broken and hinged centrally to a vertical bar, the safedoorbeing hinged to said mullion, permitting of its movement into the plane of movement of the mullion or into register as a seal for the safe. i

3. In a safe having a door-frame, the latter being formed with a, tongue and groove sealing construction and a door provided with corresponding tongue 'and groove constructions, said tongue and groove constructions being formed to interlock when the door is moved in a predetermined arc of a circle, in combination with door ,supporting and conveying-n1eansoperating in a plane parallel with the side walls of the safe and perpendicular to the face of the safe, a

link interposed between said door supporting and conveying means and said door, said link being pivotally connected, with said supporting and conveying means at one extremity and at the other extremity pivotally connected with'the door, said pivotal connection with the door being such that when the link is in a plane arallel to the;

face of the safe, the door wil ,move in said predetermined arc so as to' accomplish the interlocking of the said tongue and groove elements of the door and frame, said pivotal connection-between the door supporting and conveying means, the link and the, door being such, thatthe 'door and the connecting link between the door and the door supporting and conveying means may \be brought into the plane of movement of said supporting and conveying means so that, i

when the door and the link and conveying means are in one plane they may be moved.

front of-the safe.

I 4. In a safe having a door frame, the latter being formed with a tongue and groove sealing construction, and a door provided with corresponding tongue and groove construction, said tongue and groove construction being formed to interlock when the door is moved in a predetermined arc of a circle, in combination with door supporting and conveying means operating in a plane parallel with the side walls of the safe and perpendicular to the face of the safe, said door supporting and conveying means comprising parallel ways, and a column provided at either end thereof with anti-friction bearings adapted to move in said ways, means for sustaining said column in a vertical position while it is moved in said ways, a link interposed between said column and said door, said link being pivotally connectedwith said column at one extremity and at the other extremity pivotally connected with the door, said pivotal connection with the door being such that when the link is in a. plane parallel to the face of the safe, the door will move in said predetermined are so as to accomplish the interlocking of the said tongue and groove elements of the door and frame, said pivotal connection between the column, the link and the door being such, that the door and the connecting link between the door and the column may be brought into the plane of movement of said column, so that when the door and the link and column are in one plane they may be moved in that plane until the outen edge of the door has passed a plane corresponding with the front of the safe.

5. In a safe having a door frame, the latter formed with a tongue and groove sealing construction, and a door provided with corresponding tongue and groove construction, said tongue and groove construction being formed to interlock when the door is moved in a predetermined arc of a circle, in combination with door supporting and conveying means operating in a plane parallel with the side walls of the safe and perpendicular to the face of the safe, a link interposed between said door supporting and conveying means and said door, said link being pivotally connected with said supporting and conveying means at one extremity, and at the other extremity pivotally connected with the door, said pivotal connection with the door being such that when the link is in a plane parallel to the face of the safe, the door will move in said predetermined arc so as to accomplish the interlocking of said tongue and groove elements of the door and frame, with means to lock said link in a position so that the pivotal connection of the door therewith will occupy a. position central of the arc of rotation which the door is required to make in order to accomplish the interlocking of the flanges of the' door and the frame, and means to release said lock, said pivotal connectionbetween the door supporting and conveying means, the link and the door being such that the door and the connecting link between the door and the door supporting and conveying means may be brought into the plane of movement of said supporting and conveying means so that when the door and link and conveying means are in one plane they may be moved in .that plane until the outer edge of the door passes a plane corre r sponding with the front of the safe.

Signed by me at llIarietta, Ohio, this 18th day of July, 1923.

MORTIMER H. MOORE.

Witnesses:

RALPH H. DICK, CARL F. WALTERS. 

